Eye Of The Eagle (1987)

1987 - Eye Of The Eagle (Premiere Productions/Concorde Pictures)

[US/Filipino co-production released internationally by Roger Corman's Concorde Pictures; released in Germany as "Battlefield Vietnam" and "Jungle Force", in France as "Commando Rebelle", in Finland as "Kotkan Silma" and in Poland as "Oko Orla"]

Director/Producer Cirio H. Santiago Story Catherine Santiago Screenplay Joseph Zucchero, Nigel Hogge Executive Producer [uncredited] Roger Corman Cinematography Ricardo Remias Music Marita Manuel Editor Gervacio Santos Sound Supervisor Rollie Ruta Sound Effects Rudy Cabrales Soundman Do Bulatano Assistant Soundman Vicente Dona 2nd Unit Directors "Joe"/Jose Mari Avellana, Bobby Santiago Assistant Director Jose Torres Production Coordinator Anne Roth Production Supervisor Emilio Guatelara Production Manager Aurelio Navarro Production Designer "Joe"/Jose Mari Avellana Art Director Ronnie Cruz Special Effects Gapo Marbella Stunt Coordinator Fred Esplana Assistant Stunt Coordinators Ronald Asinas, Day Guerrero Makeup Teresa Mercarder Makeup Assistant Edna Veleriano Wardrobe Mistress Elvie Santos  Wardrobe Assistants Gloria Garcia, Remia Mendoza Set Dressers Boyet Camaya, Jerson Arrididon, Max Paglinawan 2nd Unit Cameraman Ben Lobo Assistant Cameramen Rene Pancheco, Ricardo Dumigpi Casting Director Enrique Reyes [IMDB lists Al Guarino, not in credits] Assistant Casting Director Henry Strzalkowski Assistant Production Manager Honorato Perez Jr Continuity Supervisor Chining Sagarbarria Production Assistant Albert Macapagal Production Nurse Vicky Banzuela Transportation Captain Geronimo Holandez Legman Caloy Luna Assistant Editor Danny Pantua Production Accountant Armando Lacsamana Purchaser Ricky Tolentino Comptroller Dulce del Pilar Auditor Octavio Mabilangan Production Secretary Rachel Bernardo Stills Nilo Odiaman 

Cast Brett [Baxter] Clark (Sgt. Rich Stratton), Robert Patrick (Johnny Ransom), Ed Crick (Sgt. Bo Rattner), William Steis (Capt. Carter), Cec Verrell (Chris Chandler), Rey Malonzo (Cpl. Willy Leung), Mike Monty (Col. Stark), Vic Diaz (Colonel Trang), Henry Strzalkowski (Cpl. Weasel Watkins), Willie Williams (Gimme Five), Nick Nicholson (Pfc. Crazy Dog), David Light (Sgt. Maddox), Mel Davidson (Cpl. Beller), Jim Moss (Sgt. Warden), Tony Beso (Lol Pot), Jerry Hart (Doctor), "Dave"/David Anderson (Special Forces Officer), [uncredited] Steve Rogers

Mini-review by Andrew Leavold:

Oliver Stone's Platoon marked a change in the film market's prevailing wind from rampaging Vietnam War vets and missing POWs to actual combat, and Cirio Santiago, like the proverbial bamboo reed, bent with it. EYE OF THE EAGLE (1987) is the first in a substantial barrage of Vietnam War films from Cirio and company, a breathtaking, rapid-fire montage of explosions and head-shots which, luckily, leaves little breathing space for character development and pointless exposition. Brett Clark, a bulky blow-waved Corman and Andy Sidaris regular, plays Rich Stratton, leader of the crack three-man Eagle Team alongside sixgun-toting Johnny Ransom (T2's Robert Patrick, in one of four Cirio appearances) and Willy Leung (the Pinoy Bruce Lee and Search For Vengeance star/director Rey Malonzo). Firey war reporter Chris Chandler (Silk's Cec Verrell) brings news of a Lost Command of renegade American soldiers looting and killing US troops behind enemy lines to Eagle Team's commanding officer Colonel Stark (Mike Monty), but is told by intelligence officer Captain Carter (William Steis) to dismiss it as dangerous rumour. Carter, meanwhile, is knee-deep in dirty dealings with the Lost Command's leader Bo Rattner (Ed Crick, one of the rapists from Naked Vengeance), and once the ragtag group kill Leung during a payroll hijack and take Johnny Boy prisoner, Stratton flies into a solo rage and firebombs their hideout - actually the World War 2 ruins of Corregidor - in a typically incendiary Cirio finale. 

His regulation Pigs In Space crew are well represented in Rattner's band of losers: Nick Nicholson, his hyena laugh pitch-perfect, is Crazy Dog, Henry Strzalkowski's character is appropriately named Weasel, and Willie Williams is "Gimme Five". Portly Vic Diaz briefly appears as a Vietnamese Colonel before he's shot in the skull, and David Light and Jim Moss, Cirio's dependable White Goons, make up Eagle's rival Condor Team. If it looks and sounds familiar by now, it's not surprising, as the screenplay by Cirio stalwarts Joseph Zucchero and Nigel Hogge plays its tripartite power struggle - Americans, the NVA and Rattner's Lost Command - like its iconic post-apocalypse counterparts. Montagnards with bows and arrows look suspiciously like Wheels Of Fire et al's mountain tribe, Robert Patrick's rebel hat is identical to the one he wore in Equalizer 2000, and even the Philippines' stand-in wastelands for Vietnam makes Eye Of The Eagle, more than Cirio's other 'Namsploitationers, feel like a precursor to the inevitable Apocalypse. Click here for the trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZE4hByfrho

Nick Nicholson on Eye Of The Eagle (from his blog):

This was one of my favorite films. I got to work with a lot of my friends and made some new friends here. This was a good start for Robert Patrick’s career. We shot this at Valenzuela, Bulacan, which is where most of Cirio’s family lived. The mother’s side owns a tannery there as well. But we had set up a base camp near the church on the same street where his cousins lived. It was cool and we had a place to relax at Ricky Tolentino’s house. They let us use a small hut in their backyard to relax in. The other time, we spent time at Corregidor Tanay and Mt. Makiling, Los Banos where we found a giant poop at the base of a Banyan tree that quickly became the set controversy for many days and I still vividly remember to this day.

I remember that Henry and I went to find a smoking site away from the set and we went to this Banyan tree and as we moved to the side not visible to the set, Henry said, “Holy Shit Pare, look at that!” and he was pointing at a fresh pile a poop that was fucking huge! I would guess that the diameter was at least 3″ and it must have been no less than 3 feet long kind of coiled up. You wouldn’t think it was possible for a human to take a dump like that, but there it was complete with a couple of pieces of tissue that were used to wipe this super humans butt! It was times like this that I kick myself for not bringing a camera with me to capture this oddity. Throughout the day various people went over to that tree to look at that magnificent piece of shit and speculation ran wild with, “Who did it!?!” A lot of people pegged Gloria from wardrobe as the culprit, others claimed it could only have come from her brother Lino who was gay, and made our coffee. Nobody ever claimed it, but, it was talked about for years! It ell you, it was fucking scary!!!

Anyway, as I said earlier this is kind of where Robert Patrick’s career took off! Brett Clark was supposed to be the lead but he ended up wimping out. There was a minor stunt where he was supposed to jump from the roof of a 3 storey building into some boxes below. He chickened out and we told Robert to tell Cirio that he could do it. Well he did, and he got the stunt and the film suddenly focused on him. We were quite happy about that! Robert was a good guy and real fun to work with. He was thus inducted into the “Pigs in Space”!

Los Banos was always a cool place to shoot due to the fact that we would always stop at the Dairy outlet for UP Los Banos and we would load up on chocolate milk and Keso Puti which was a kind of fresh mozzarella cheese. Also we would purchase Buco pie which was a pie made with young tender coconuts.

Nick Nicholson and Henry Strzalkowski

On this particular film, it was much like any other Cirio movie in the sense that a lot of running was involved, not to mention explosions and gunfire. We did all of this and in between we smoked weed and did some exploring. We weren’t too far from the boiling mud spring as Mt Makiling is a volcano. Hence, Los Banos means “the baths” there is a lot of geothermal activity in the area and I still believe that this sucker will pop its cork one of these days.

Above is a picture of Me, Ed Crick and Robert Patrick in makeup on Mt. Makiling Below is Steve Rogers and myself doing some of the “running and shooting”.

Nothing really interesting happened here. We shot some fun stuff at the Valenzuela set. I don’t have any pics from there. The real stuff happened at Tanay and Correigidor.

We went to Mariveles Bataan which is now a Sweatshop for footwear manufacture and BASECO which is the Bataan Shipyard. We stayed at the Hilltop Hotel which was a pleasant place to stay. Food in the restaurant was edible. Me, Henry and Steve cracked up one night while we were there. Brett demanded that food served to him by our caterer should be steamed. No fried foods at all as he was on a strict diet. Holy Jebus! One night we walk into the restaurant and who do we see? Brett! And.. what was he eating? A whole fried chicken with a huge plate of French Fries! What a fucking joke!

Anyway, in the morning we would get on a jeepney which would take us to the pier at BASECO and from there we would ride a boat going to Corregidor.

Above is me, Mike Soques and Steve Rogers on the boat. It was a nice ride over to the island. Once on the island we would get situated, find the coffee, and adjust our attitudes. The rest of the day was filled with more running, gunfire and explosions. Cirio loved explosions. The bigger the fireball the better. We all had survived numerous encounters with these blasts. Henry has a photo of us going up the stairs of one of the batteries on Corregidor where he and Ed Crick are engulfed by a fireball. The thing is, before doing a scene, if we see a red flag, we check it out. We look to see how big is the powder charge, then how much gasoline is being used, then we guide ourselves accordingly. Unfortunately for Ed Crick, he didn’t do his homework before the scene. He lost his eyebrows and got 2nd degree burns on his face. Steve and I were in front of Henry and Ed and we hauled ass going up the stairs and our heads looking away from the blast. Henry did the same thing, but Ed was just looking forward. he learned fast and it didn’t happen to him again.

Nick Nicholson and Steve Rogers

I think it was our first day there at Corregidor that we were met by our buddy Bill Steis. He and the other Hollywooders had already been shooting a couple of days. Henry, Bill and I quickly started to explore the area. We crawled in between the magazine walls, up and down the gun batteries. We were all over the place! No matter where you went there were spent bullet casings all over the place. We took a piss at the entry of one of the gun batteries and uncovered a pile of .30 cal machinegun casings. I Can only imagine what it was like when the US Army retook Corregidor from the Japanese. There were bomb craters within bomb craters. The US Army Air Corps pounded the shit out of the island before dropping paratroops. There wasn't a living tree or bush left on the island. later the island was seeded with Ipil Ipil seeds. After that it was Ipil Ipil Trees, Birds and cobras. It is said that the waters around the island are shark infested. We never went swimming there to find out.

Fred Adelman's review from his Critical Condition Online website:

EYE OF THE EAGLE (1987) - This film, the first of Filipino director Cirio H. Santiago's full-on 80's Vietnam War action flicks, finds Sgt. Rick Stratton (Brett Clark; ALIEN WARRIOR - 1985), Cpl. Johnny Ransom (Robert Patrick, wearing the same rebel cap he did in Santiago's EQUALIZER 2000 - 1986) and Cpl. Willy Leung (Rey Malonzo; SEARCH FOR VENGEANCE - 1984) saving a squad of American soldiers who are pinned-down by the enemy in the jungle. Sgt. Stratton fires his pistol in one hand and an AK-47 in the other, Cpl. Leung keeps the enemy at bay with his automatic rifle and Cpl. Ransom shoots his Winchester rifle from the hip. All three of them are crack shots, kill all the VC and lead the American soldiers to a waiting helicopter. We then witness a group of traitorous American soldiers, led by Sgt. B.O. Rattner (Ed Crick), invade the headquarters of Company C, laying waste to all the buildings and killing all the American soldiers stationed there. Col. Stark (Mike Monty) and Capt. Carter (William Steis) assign Stratton, Ransom and Leung on a mission to kill enemy Col. Trang (Vic Diaz) as he is traveling by train through the mountains. The trio sneak on-board the train, kill Trang and are forced to steal some enemy motorcycles and drive to safety when, for some reason, Capt. Carter never picks them up by helicopter. When the trio get back to headquarters, they make sure to voice their displeasure to Carter and then get into a bar fight with Sgt. Maddox (David Light) and his men (who were supposed to back them up on the last mission) when someone calls Leung a "gook". Meanwhile, journalist Chris Chandler (Cec Verrell; SILK - 1986) has discovered the secret location of the "Lost Command", a squad of rogue soldiers that are officially listed as AWOL or MIA, commanded by, you guessed it, Sgt. B.O. Rattner. When Chandler is discovered taking photos of the secret location, Rattner orders his men to kill her and get the film. That's not going to be easy, because Chandler's assistant, Lol Pot (Tony Beso), is also the leader of a local tribe of spear and bow-carrying freedom fighters. When Chandler makes it back to her base camp, she manages to get one radio message out before Rattner and his men appear to destroy the camp. Chandler is saved, but loses her camera and the film. When Stratton finds out that Rattner is involved, he has Chandler lead him, Ransom and Leung to the location of the Lost Command. You see, it turns out that Rattner murdered Stratton's brother years earlier and it's payback time. It looks like it's going to be a hot time in the old jungle tonight, especially after it's revealed that Capt. Carter is in cahoots with Rattner. When Rattner kidnaps and tortures Ransom, Stratton and Chandler race to the Lost Command headquarters to save him. Will they get there in time?  

I'm not going to pretend that this film is nothing but a low-budget PLATOON (1986) rip-off, but it's still damn entertaining. Director/producer Cirio H. Santiago, working with a script by frequent Santiago collaborators Joseph Zucchero and Nigel Hogge, has fashioned a fast-paced, mindless actioner that's basically a non-stop series of action set-pieces connected by the barest of plots. Brett Clark is stiff as a piece of one inch-thick plywood and Robert Patrick, who would appear as the same character in Santiago's next Nam film, BEHIND ENEMY LINES (1987), only this time as the lead, mugs for the camera and screams out his lines. Luckily, we don't watch these films for the acting talent and Santiago doesn't disappoint when it comes to the carnage. People are shot in the head (our trio's preferred method of disposing of the enemy), blown-up or riddled with automatic gunfire and Santiago also includes a shot of a man on fire, a recurring gag in nearly all his films. I'm still trying to figure out why Ransom dresses like a Southern rebel from the Civil War and why he was allowed to bring a Winchester rifle and a Colt pistol to Vietnam, but I suppose it's best not to dwell on such matters. Unfortunately, Cec Verrell keeps her clothes on throughout, but there's a brief shot of a topless prostitute during the bar fight. If you like war action films, EYE OF THE EAGLE is a good way to spend 82 minutes. Two unrelated sequels followed, EYE OF THE EAGLE II: INSIDE THE ENEMY  (1988; directed by Carl Franklin and produced by Santiago) and EYE OF THE EAGLE 3 (1990; with Santiago returning to the director's chair). Other Santiago Nam epics include THE EXPENDABLES (1988), NAM ANGELS (1988), FIELD OF FIRE (1990), BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY (1992), KILL ZONE (1992) and FIREHAWK (1992). Also starring Nick Nicholson, Henry Strzalkowski, Willie Williams, Mel Davidson, Jim Moss and Jerry Hart. Originally issued on VHS by MGM/UA Home Video and later released on DVD by Roger Corman's New Horizons Home Video as part of their AMERICAN VALOR series.

Timothy Young's review from the Mondo Esoterica website:

At the height of the Vietnam War a brutal attack on an American base kills dozens of soldiers. In charge of an elite team known as 'Eagle', Sergeant Rich Stratton leads his men on a commando attack on a train carrying a Viet Cong officer - they kill their target but are abandoned by their pick-up and forced to trek back to base. Meanwhile a journalist Chris Chandler manages to get close to an abandoned military base where she discovers a 'lost command' of American soldiers who have absconded from their units and hidden in the jungle, carrying out covert attacks on American troops and bases for loot. Stratton and his Eagle team are sent to investigate...

The Vietnam war affected a whole generation of young Americans and divided a nation over what many saw as a needless war. As a result the conflict has been treated with earnest sincerity by most American film makers, examining its brutality and suffering in films from the viewpoint of the men on the ground in Platoon (1986) to the suffering of the neglected veterans in Born on the Fourth of July (1989). However in the Phillipines during the 1980s there was a boom in exploitation film making and a number of enterprising producers saw the potential for using the country as a double for Vietnam leading to a slew of action packed war movies throughout the decade. Attracted by the incredibly cheap production costs of these films, American exploitation producer Roger Corman provided funding and several American actors for the first of what would become a trilogy of films.

Scripted by Joseph Zucchero (who had previously written director Cirio H. Santiago's Rambo rip-off The Devastator (1985)), Eye of the Eagle starts off with a bang, literally - the opening frame of the film shows a soldier being shot in the head - and it never seems to let up on the action with well over two-thirds of the film's runtime being dedicated to explosive gunfighting and action scenes with the plot coming a distant second place. The storyline that there is, is incredibly simple (with its absconding officer theme it does seem to be a homeopathically distilled take on Apocalypse Now (1979)), serving to get our characters into innumerable fights with minimal exposition. Of course this does leave all sorts of important questions unanswered, like the actual motives of the 'lost command' (they are making money from their looting, but what they can do with this in the middle of a jungle is never stated), however none of this seems to matter particularly as the storyline speeds on to the next explosion - even what might have been a token romantic sub-plot is bypassed (although this does deny us the chance for a gratuitous sex scene). Obviously the pacing never gets time to slacken and the film builds to an inevitable but suitably dramatic climax.

Although hardly likely to be authentic the production looks as good as you could expect - the screen is continually filled with explosive effects and enough gun wielding extras to give the combat scenes a large scale feel, there is a good selection of American military hardware on show (including the requesite UH-1 helicopters and M113 troop carriers) and the Phillipine jungles do make a suitably convincing Vietnam (certainly much more so than the American rural locations used in many US produced low budget 'namsploitation films). The commando unit conform to all of the usual genre clichés with completely inplausible uniforms (including a noticable lack of any supply packs, even when dropped far behind enemy lines) and a habit of successfully wielding several guns at once. Probably the most inadvertantly humourous scene is the attack on a train which is built up as a major operation with commandos boarding at both ends, but turns out to be a tiny narrow gauge steam train with four coaches bouncing along the tracks.

Director Cirio H. Santiago is never more than workmanlike behind the camera, but adds enough variation to the combat scenes to keep the film from feeling repetitive - only one of the battle scenes, an attack on a village, becomes rather confusing with it being hard to tell just who is fighting whom. Despite the endless gunshots and explosions, gory effects are surprisingly understated - a few bloody head-shots are the most vivid effects on display, while some bikini-clad dancers in a nightclub are the closest the film comes to female skin, probably a reflection of the film's intended American release market. The soundtrack is a very mixed bag - sometimes fitting, often rather less so - one combat scene plays out to soft jazz and not in an deliberately ironic way.

Bulky American actor Brett Baxter Clark plays Stratton and does seem to be perfectly suited for this sort of film, he is joined by a very young Robert Patrick (best known as the T-1000 in Terminator II (1991)) in one of three films he made for Santiago in the Phillipines in 1986. Filipino exploitation film veteran Vic Diaz (The Big Bird Cage (1972)) has a very brief part as the Viet Cong commander targetted in the train assault.

For an audience wanting a serious, worthy Vietnam war film, this will doubtless prove disappointing (if not completely insulting), however to an audience looking for an all-out low-budget action-fest and prepared to accept the limitations of the genre, Eye of the Eagle does not disappoint - an almost non-stop parade of over-the-top gunplay and explosions with just enough storyline to keep things moving, plus the amusing sight of a pre-fame Robert Patrick - only the lack of gratutious nudity stops this from being the ultimate exploitation action film.

Eric Reifschneider's review from the Blood Brothers website:

Antonio Margheriti may be the king of likable cheesy 80's Italian actionploitation but halfway around the world in the Philippines, a Filipino director by the name of Cirio H. Santiago was also making a name for himself in the cheesy low budget world of actionploitation. The one difference is his films tend not to be nearly as likable or enjoyable as his Italian counterparts. Eye of the Eagle is no exception.

Though Santiago flirted with a Vietnam War film in his First Blood rip-off Final Mission, Eye of the Eagle would mark his first full fledged Vietnam War film which desperately tries to copy the macho hero successes of Rambo: First Blood Part II and Missing in Action. Here we get a lame Rambo type hero in the form of Brett Baxter Clark who seems a rather oddball with his blond highlighted 80's hairdo despite the film taking place in 1970. He is in charge of a military assassination group called "Eagle" (catchy code name isn't it?). After a botched mission our group comes in contact with a reporter who has proof of an existence of a rebel American military group made up of MIAs. This rebel group just happens to be headed by the same asshole that killed Brett's brother in cold blood! Brett and his trusty sidekick (Robert Patrick, pre T-1000 role!) set out to shoot lots, and lots of bullets.

When it comes to no brain action, Eye of the Eagle could be the dictionary definition. No thought goes into this plot what-so-ever and it seems machine guns are fired through most of it's 90 minute run time. Everything cliché in an war action film is here, including a typical bar fights and double crosses. All aspects of this film are just downright poor, from its writing, to its editing, to its acting. Hell even the sets are so damn cheap that they almost fall down when Robert Patrick slams a door! You also got to love that ultra lame model helicopter explosion at the end.

The absolute worst part however is the jarring editing during the action sequences. Whenever an explosion goes off, the film has a very jarring edit before people go flying. The film is filled with these awful edits! This is the cheap filmmakers way around action sequences as he cuts at an "opportune" times to switch people out with stunt men. I have never seen this an action film utilize this technique so much and so badly.

I enjoy no-brain 80's action as much as the next guy but Santiago's action outings tend to be not only no-brain but also brain killing. It has some amusing unintentional laughs but this comes nowhere near the enjoyment factor of other cheesy Vietnam flicks produced in Italy and America. The Last Hunter... now that's a likable B-grade Vietnam war flick. My advice is to check out the work of Margheriti instead. If for some God forsaken reason you were floored by the awesomeness of Eye of the Eagle... don't worry, it was followed by two sequels!

Henry Strzalkowski's on-set photos:

 

 

 

 

Mad Warrior (1984)

1984 – Mad Warrior (JPM Productions)

[Philippines release date 4th January 1984, also known as "Mad Warriors" and released on UK VHS as “Clash Of The Warlords” – onscreen title “Clash Of Warlords”]

Director Willie Milan Title Design Ed Rohr Soundman Fred Manoza Assistant Camera Boy Anao Clapper Danny Caburnay Boomman Max Stabillo Electrician Nardo Taytayon Crew Mario Caburnay, Bobby Ramon Estabillo Wardrobe Waldo Masconi Liason Officer Manolo Maglaya Fight Instructors Jay Grama, Linda Castro Assistant Editors Bonifacio Brien, Ever Ramos, Nelen Rampar Stills Willy Anao Makeup Mely Sioson Schedule Master Lito “Extra” Manuel Effectsman Edilberto Naelgas Setman Emeng Eslaban Utilitymen Johnny & Totto Prosthetic Makeup Cecile Baun

Cast Anthony Alonzo, Jennifer Kirkham, Johnny Monteiro, Willie Williams, Gabby Farro (Maria), Robert “Marios”/Marius (Malsam), Tom Romano, Rey De Gusman, Ching Zabala, Waldo Masconi, Ading Montalban, Fred Esplana, Jay Grama, Mel Arca, Alex Bolado, Linda Castro, "W Stuntmen", Paul Vance, Edward Bronett, Andy Peterson, Robert Benson, Tony Rocha, David Light, Hardy Oppoua, Rommel Valdez, Max Laurel, Sonny Erang, Rusty Santos, Boy Ibanez, Teresa Hunt, Joan Durst, Avi Seetaky, Robert Miller, Jimmy Santos, Romy Nario

Fred Adelman’s review from the Critical Condition website:

CLASH OF THE WARLORDS (1985) - In this sequel to director Willie Milan's W (aka: W IS WAR - 1983), warrior Rex (Willy Williams) is forced to fight his best friend gladiator style in an arena by evil warlord Malsam (Robert Marios), who is holding Rex's young son prisoner and will only free him if Rex kills his friend. When Rex kills his friend and Malsam renegs on his deal, he and his son escape with the help of a friendly female. Malsam orders his men to recapture Rex and his son (He says, "Find them and don't come back until you find them!" What!?!), but the trigger-happy henchmen kill Rex's son and the helpful female when warrior Maria (Gabby Parro) comes out of nowhere to help Rex fight the bad guys. As Rex and Maria walk through the post-nuked terrain, they are captured by a group of people and led to the town of Opulus, where Maria is reunited with her long-lost father Zeus, a scientist who is working on a cure for radiation poisoning. We also find out that Malsam is afflicted with a strange disease where he begins to mutate every time he looks at the moon (When he sees the moon one night, he tells his men, "Take it away and I'll cover it in blood!" Double what!?! Some of his men turn to each other and say, "He has a devil inside him!" and "He's not just crazy. He's a lunatic!"). Malsam will not rest until Rex is dead, so he hires a band of beefy warriors to capture Rex and bring him back, which they do (without very much trouble at all). Rex must fight a series of battles in the arena, each one more dangerous than the last. Just when things begin looking grim for Rex, Maria shows up with a "Liquidation Squad", an army of rocket launcher and machine gun-carrying men who help Rex defeat Malsam's men. The rest of the film is just a series of gunfights and explosions until Rex confronts Malsam for a lightsaber duel (!), where Rex quickly defeats Malsam (he explodes into a million little pieces when Rex cuts him in half with the lightsaber!) and Maria and Rex share a passionate kiss before Rex jumps on his horse and heads off on another adventure, which audiences never got to see (because it was never filmed). Maybe he died of radiation poisoning.

This is strictly lower-tier Filipino action cinema that's pretty rough going for the viewer. I guess it would help to view the first film (which I didn't at the time of this review), but I really doubt if it would make a big difference. The Greek subtitled version I viewed edits out most of the gory footage and the English dubbing is so bad, it's almost surreal. Most of the impalements, axe fights (which seems to be the weapon of choice here) and gun battles end abruptly and those edits get quite annoying after a short period of time. We don't watch these films for the storylines, you know, so editing out all the gore kind of defeats the whole purpose of watching it in the first place. I'm sure director Willie Milan (ULTIMAX FORCE - 1986) didn't mean for this film to be as awful as this edition makes it out to be, but the atrocious dubbing (the word "arena" is pronounced "areener" and the dubbing crew can't seem to make up their minds if Gabby Parro's character name is "Maria" or "Reya") and lack of bloody violence in this version makes it a tough sitting for the viewing audience, even if it's only 73 minutes long. The only interesting (and weird) points this film has to offer are Malsam's aversion to the moon (which is quickly dropped) and counting how many times you spot people standing around in a circle (which is a lot!). Also starring Tom Romano, Rey De Gusman, Teresa Hunt, Joan Durst, Ching Zabala, Waldo Masconi and the "W Stuntmen". Also known as MAD WARRIOR. A Video Memory Release. Not Rated.

Michael Petch's review from the Post-Apocalypse website:

After seeing the DVD cover on eBay, I had to buy a copy. 23rd Century, well-known purveyors of the most basic region 0 DVD's, have released a poor-quality extras free DVD that you can pick up on eBay for a few pounds if you're lucky. I was....

At times like this I realise how reliant on the internet I am for information. Trying to research this movie I have fallen flat on my face. It was tough to find information on Death Run (external review), but this is in another league. Apart from one or two message board requests here and there, nobody seems to know where this is from or when it was made. I looked and looked and finally found a tiny bit of information from the British Film Institute website. Additionally I have been sent scans that confirm the film has also been titled Mad Warrior (scans at the bottom of the page).

Lets firstly clear up, or at least try to clear up, some of the big questions:

Where? The very end credits thank the Hoyop Hoyopan Cave, which is in the Philippines. This makes lots of sense as loads of PA's hail from that country. Camp John Hay is also thanked. This was an American Air Force 'rest and recreation' base until the Americans handed it back to the Philippeans in 1991. It's now a holiday resort.

Who? Well that’s a tough question. All the names sound very English and none show up when searched on IMDB or Google. All pseudonyms, I'm sure. Finally I found a picture from my collection of saved PA scans that I have built up over the past couple of months. I found a selection of foreign PA boxes a while back on a random message board, and one, Mad Warrior, has the same art work as Clash of the Warlords. It appears they are the same film. Searching for Mad Warrior threw up a link at the BFI with some genuine names. The director and actors have all done other film work, though nothing much worth mentioning apart from Robert Marius. I don't know who he plays here but he's also in Warriors of the Apocalypse (1985).

When? The credits and the box are no help but again the BFI comes to the rescue. 1985, it claims.

Why? You’re on the wrong website if you're asking this question (although some may say films are produced to make money).

And that's the total sum of everything I know about the making of this film, but I did watch it, and I have lots to tell...

The beginning of the film gives a good forewarning of the quality of things to come, the music started and I was immediately impressed. A lively synth and electric guitar combo. Unfortunately what we see isn't so impressive. A black explosion cloud is seen moving up for a second and then it freezes. After a few seconds, the Clash of the Warlords title card flashes up for a couple of seconds over the explosion. Then we're treated to three minutes of the freeze frame explosion and nothing more. Honestly, it’s a freeze frame picture and music for three minutes! Obviously there were originally some credits here that were too foreign for us to handle. If it wasn't for the music, I would have been annoyed. I actually found it rather amusing, unlike the beginning of Exterminators of the Year 3000 where the opening titles were intact but missing the music.

The music is pretty good throughout, but I fear it has been stolen from somewhere else because throughout the film it cuts out during scene changes and sometimes randomly. It's really obvious and spoils the mood constantly.

We open to a gladiatorial arena setting. Don't expect a grand arena though, this is just a circle surrounded by logs. People are standing around watching a fight in the arena. The combatants have short axe type weapons and everybody is dressed in black. I will find it easier to call this group the Warlords. The Warlords are commanded by a fruit cake called Malsam who wears a metal mask over half of his face to cover up radiation scars.

Mustachioed Rex wins the fight. The crowd all chant "Kill him!" and Malsam gives the thumbs-down sign. Rex hesitates but eventually kills the loser. "I'm not at all satisfied,” claims Malsam, "what I want you to do is kill your best friend." If you think Malsam's insane now, just wait till later! Rex's best friend is brought into the arena. His young son is watching him and he knows that he must fight to save his son and get his freedom. Rex easily kills his friend. Everyone laughs at him but blond beauty Reya consoles him, "Bravo, your great". Nice.

It turns out that Malsam lied and Rex is not freed. That night Rex is sitting in his tent with his young kid, who is asleep. Malsam’s woman Tanya goes to see Rex. She like Rex and promises to help him escape “If…” and then she starts to unfasten her top. After what seems an age of unfastening she finally takes her top off, and at that very second the camera cuts to behind her, so you don't see anything even though your sure you were about to. If that poor kid wakes up he's going to develop some psychological problems from this.

We cut to the next day and see Rex, Tanya and the kid running through your mandatory mine setting. Keep an eye on Tanya as she has a hilarious run. I wonder why Rex needed Tanya’s help to get away? Malsam is obviously pissed – his best fighter and best woman have escaped. “Find them, and don’t come back until you’ve found them! They can’t hide forever, this island's too small”. Island? Hmm.

So off heads a group of Warlords on horseback, fronted by the crappest post-apocalyptic vehicle ever. It’s a tricycle with armor. After a minute or two of chase footage, the Warlords catch up to Rex and Co. In a horribly staged scene, the child and Tanya don't turn to face the attackers. This is to allow a planned special effect to work. They are both shot in the back with some kind of poisoned dart or something. Rex is about to be captured when Reya arrives up on the hillside. She has a machine gun and shoots, scaring off the Warlords. Rex is obviously pretty distraught and walks off with his dead son in his arms, Reya fallowing. Nobody seems to care about poor Tanya who is just left where she died. It turns out Reya misses her father, who disappeared somewhere. Yeah, he just disapeared. That's all the explanation I got, so that's all you're getting.

Meanwhile, in a tent laboratory filled with bubbling chemicals, the lead scientist has found a cure for wounds caused by atomic radiation. Is that even slightly possible? At first I thought this lab was at the Warlords' base, but soon enough we realise that it actually belongs to the other big group on the island.

Rex and Reya end up walking through a forest and are soon captured by this other group. They don’t have a name, but I was calling them "the browns" because they all wear brown, as appose to the Warlords in black. It turns out that the top scientist guy is Reya’s long-lost father so they are welcomed into the group. It turns out Reya has a damaged arm. Dad can soon fix that. “It’s just a minor infection caused by radiation”.

Time now for a blurry slow motion flashback. Rex’s wife is dead in a shallow stream. His kid is there and they are surrounded by Warlords. No wonder he hates them.

The browns' camp is a pretty place in the woods. Theses are obviously the good guys. Just like at the Warlords base there are always people moving around. The director has overcompensated for his lack of cast by getting people to march around at all times. In the Warlords' camp there are ALWAYS groups of people running around in the background, and most likely changing direction as soon as they are off-screen and running back, pretending to be other people. This technique is severely overused. We can tell are only 40 or so actors. Why would there be so much hustle and bustle? Still, it's fun to see people running around for no reason and with no actual military precision or timing.

Anyway, they all seem to be preparing for war. The Browns are play-fighting and the Warlords are sharpening axes and training on throwing deadly Frisbees. We even see that the Warlords actually have two armored bikes, although we only ever see one moving. The Browns then move up a step and start training with rocket launchers.

Around this point the tape screws up for a second or two. That’s right; I’m watching a DVD version, but the original tape the DVD was made from screws up. Poor quality control! Talking of quality, some of the footage looks OK, and other parts look poor. It’s like it was filmed on two totally different cameras (which is probably not far from the truth). Just when you think the training montage is over, there's one final treat. The Professor shows up and takes out his lightsaber. That’s right, his lightsaber. It seems this guy really is a genius. He switches it on and has a swing. Oddly, it hits something invisible and there's a little explosion but the scene cuts away milliseconds after the hit. Bizarre and crap looking, but enjoyably unexpected.

Now remember earlier when I said that Malsam would get madder? Well it appears he doesn’t like the moon (unlike the woman in Empire of Ash who loved it). He comes out of his tent and shouts for his right hand man, “Azim, the moon is getting full!” He rants, “Take it away from me, get it away!” and he continues to moan, “Not possible Malsam” claims Azim. Malsam goes one step further, “I’ll cover it in blood, I need fresh blood!”.

Malsam continues to rant crazily. Not far away, his men are talking about how crazy he is. They all think he's a lunatic, so why do they all follow his orders? It’s just as weird as the Hog in Deadly Reactor. Soon enough the film goes from weird to weirder. Malsam is chained up, without his mask (revealing radiation scarring and a fake eye make-up) and is surrounded by a circle of his men with flares. He howls and moans. “He’s not just crazy, he’s a lunatic!” claims one of his men. Absolute madness.

The next day we have a lot more training. The Browns sure love to fight with each other. Rex tells Reya that that she's too young for him (he has a mustache for goodness sake) and that he has a mission. Strangely the Warlords capture a few Browns and Malsam and his men sneak up on the Browns base. Malsam has a look at the Browns who are all too busy training to notice anybody sneaking up. For some reason, Malsam decides to go back to his base. He wants to kill Rex in the arena. Later that night Malsam has some sicko sex with some random woman outdoors while all his men are lined up in front facing away.

The next day Rex decides to leave the camp and kisses Reya before he goes. Over at the Warlords' camp, we find out that they need to fight because all their land is ruined from the radiation and they can’t grow food. Can’t they all just make friends? In a superb little scene, Malsam and Azim are walking between two ranks of men with spears. The troops move their spears out of the way as Malsam and Azim walk towards the camera.

Unfortunately the troops don’t seem to have practiced the technique very much and there are spears removed early and some not removed at all. One guy simply forgets altogether and another decides to wiggle his back and forwards a couple of times. Classic. Malsam is still angry that Rex escaped. Some guy turns up at their base with a selection of tough gladiators for hire. Malsam wants them for his arena for when he manages to capture Rex.

It turns out that Rex went into hiding in the mountains. A group of Warlords turn up, they have a bit of a chase and Rex is captured. Back at the Browns' camp, the commander is debating whether to attack the Warlords or not. “Thousands of our warriors could lose their lives.” he claims. What? Thousands? Ridiculous. He also mentions something about a “liquidation squad”. I don’t know what that was about but it sounded good. Reya continues to persuade the commander that it's is the right thing to do.

Rex, and another guy who was also captured, are taken to the arena and meet face-to-face with Malsam. “You're crazy, Malsam!” claims Rex. “You mean you never knew? Ha ha ha ha!” is his reply. At least he accepts his madness.

Time now for some explanations. It turns out Rex’s father killed Malsam’s father, and Malsam killed Rex’s father. Got that? Now he wants to kill Rex. To start, Rex and the other guy fight four of the hired gladiators in the ring. Not a bad fight but it includes some pointless slow-motion camera work.

Soon the gladiators are all finished and the new guy and Rex are forced to fight to get a chance to fight Malsam. Rex obviously wins. He's about to kill the guy but he throws his axe at Malsam, who immediately shoots it down with a laser. Quite good. Meanwhile, the Browns are preparing for their attack. They fire off a load of rockets, blowing up Malsam’s silver bubble tents. Also quite good! Malsam runs down some secret entrance into some caves hidden under one of the tents. Cut to a ton of shooting, fighting and general chaos where the Browns have the clear upper hand as the Warlords don't seem to be able to shoot straight. Reya and Rex team up and head into the caves with a troop of the Browns. Even in the caves there are plenty of troops pointlessly marching about in any old direction.

After a whole load of fighting Rex and Reya finally make it to the heart of the caves where Malsam has his throne-room type place. It's filled with ground fog from noisy flares. Malsam’s last wild card? A red lightsaber! Oh yes, it's time for a lightsaber duel. These things sound and look crap but it’s a superb moment.

Eventually Rex wins and Malsam explodes when the blade hits him (strange - is he made of explosives?). Rex and Reya kiss and they all head back home, but it seems like Rex doesn’t want to stay with the Browns. It isn’t explained at all but he heads off on a horse in your quintessential PA ending. If they really are on a small island, I wonder where he's off to? Why do PA heroes always leave to be on their own? Just to give us one extra thing to laugh at, the very final scene sees Rex talking to some of the Browns on his horse, except all the dialogue is cut out. His mouth is moving but there's just music playing! And that’s the end, followed by a few credits and thanks.

Final Thoughts: This movie is pretty bad. The production values are shocking and the editing is poor. Despite this, I still had a lot of fun. There was a lot to laugh about and it was fun, which is more than can be said about a lot of bigger-budget PA’s. If you have seen a lot of post-apocalyptic films before, and enjoy the rubishness, then this is highly recommended, just don’t blame me if you think it's awful.